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Advance of the Fungi
Advance of the E. C. Advance of the Dover FIRST First Edition, First Printing. Published by Dover Pubns, 2000. Octavo. Paperback. Book is very good. Covers have shelf wear.Seller 547979 Science & Nature We Buy Books! Collections - Libraries - Estates - Individual Titles. Message us if you have books to sell!
- GenresNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1940
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 17, 2011
This book is just perfect for all of those historically minded plant pathologists out there!
...anyone? Anyone? No, really! The parts about the Irish potato blight will truly suck you in! Did you know that Rev. M. J. Berkeley's idea that Phytophthora infestans might be the cause, rather than the consequence, of the blight pre-dated Pasteur's germ theory by a couple of decades? Come on. That's some exciting stuff there.
Can't lie to you, though. There was a tad more on phylloxera of the vine than even this historically minded plant pathologist could fully support.
Plus, since this is a history of plant pathology through 1939, you get the extra-fun, meta perspective of thinking about the history of the history. A real highlight for me came during Large's future-directions-type section at the end, and went something like, "Oh, I know! Let's cover all the fields with MERCURY. That may just clear up all our problems with these pesky fungi." Hmmmmm. And you know we're probably doing something like this right now. All of those historically minded plant pathologists of 2085 will have a field day with us.
...anyone? Anyone? No, really! The parts about the Irish potato blight will truly suck you in! Did you know that Rev. M. J. Berkeley's idea that Phytophthora infestans might be the cause, rather than the consequence, of the blight pre-dated Pasteur's germ theory by a couple of decades? Come on. That's some exciting stuff there.
Can't lie to you, though. There was a tad more on phylloxera of the vine than even this historically minded plant pathologist could fully support.
Plus, since this is a history of plant pathology through 1939, you get the extra-fun, meta perspective of thinking about the history of the history. A real highlight for me came during Large's future-directions-type section at the end, and went something like, "Oh, I know! Let's cover all the fields with MERCURY. That may just clear up all our problems with these pesky fungi." Hmmmmm. And you know we're probably doing something like this right now. All of those historically minded plant pathologists of 2085 will have a field day with us.
March 31, 2021
Great book! Although the main reoccurring plotline is about a type of oomycotes, not fungi... just in case you had your mind set on reading about fungi.
February 11, 2008
Plant pathology, and the development of modern methods of combating plant diseases, is probably not most peoples' first choice as far as what to read on a rainy night when you have nothing better to do. However, if you ever do get the urge, you could do a lot worse than Large's readable, and even somewhat absorbing, book on the subject. Starting with the first major outbreak of Potato Blight in Ireland in 1845, which resulted in the Irish Potato Famine, Large takes us through 1939 by looking at the ways in which science found ways to combat various diseases of crops throughout the world. Sounds dull, doesn't it? Well, it's not. Large is very good at explaining the things he's talking about, and he never gets above the reader's level of comprehension, while at the same time never talking down to the reader. A fascinating book, worth picking up if you happen across it in a used bookstore.
February 5, 2022
Despite the title, The Advance of the Fungi is a book about plant pathology, with many of the diseases discussed no longer classified as fungi. Large has essentially written a history of the field, beginning with the Irish potato famine in the 1840's and extending to the time of the book's publication in 1940 when blight-proof potatoes were finally developed.
Although it's a history, The Advance of the Fungi has a narrative sort of structure. Important figures such as Rev. M. J. Berkeley crop up in numerous chapters but the structure of the book follows developments in the field rather than people. The book is plenty technical, and if you are uninitiated in mycology or plant pathology you'll find it to be a heavy lift, but if that were the case you would probably not be at all interested in the first place. Nonetheless, the book reads more like a history of science than like a science text. By and large, it's organized chronologically, but the structure can feel odd at times as it is (sort of) also grouped by subject.
Given that it was published by a Brit in 1940, Large has a much less colonial attitude than I expected, but there are still some odd remarks, for example regarding the Irish. It is also not always clear when Large means to be sarcastic or genuine.
If the topic interests you, it's a fun read, not because it's up-to-date and a useful contemporary source, but because it gives you a sense of the long struggle between humans and pathogens over which of the two gets to receive nourishment from agriculture. The book is replete with fun writing and turns of phrase buried beneath technical description and dry history. My favorite, in the part of the book on discovery of genetics, has to be "Genes were fairies that sat upon chromosomes." It's still dense, but worth perusing if the topic interests you. Otherwise I can't recommend this. I know Large also wrote some novels, but this certainly reads like an academic work.
Although it's a history, The Advance of the Fungi has a narrative sort of structure. Important figures such as Rev. M. J. Berkeley crop up in numerous chapters but the structure of the book follows developments in the field rather than people. The book is plenty technical, and if you are uninitiated in mycology or plant pathology you'll find it to be a heavy lift, but if that were the case you would probably not be at all interested in the first place. Nonetheless, the book reads more like a history of science than like a science text. By and large, it's organized chronologically, but the structure can feel odd at times as it is (sort of) also grouped by subject.
Given that it was published by a Brit in 1940, Large has a much less colonial attitude than I expected, but there are still some odd remarks, for example regarding the Irish. It is also not always clear when Large means to be sarcastic or genuine.
If the topic interests you, it's a fun read, not because it's up-to-date and a useful contemporary source, but because it gives you a sense of the long struggle between humans and pathogens over which of the two gets to receive nourishment from agriculture. The book is replete with fun writing and turns of phrase buried beneath technical description and dry history. My favorite, in the part of the book on discovery of genetics, has to be "Genes were fairies that sat upon chromosomes." It's still dense, but worth perusing if the topic interests you. Otherwise I can't recommend this. I know Large also wrote some novels, but this certainly reads like an academic work.
August 25, 2019
This author is fantastic. He's written a couple of novels, which I hope to read someday.
September 10, 2009
A LOT of information and detail in this book, a lot more than I ever needed to know -but it's got bits about potatoes in it, so I kind of had to give it a whirl, didn't I? Besides, fungi are often so wicked cool.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews